Thursday, August 22, 2013

The Convention Awareness Project -TX website went live on Tuesday, January 1, 2013
and featured what is intended to be the most comprehensive listing of conventions in Texas to
be found anywhere on the internet. Spawned
from a personal dedication to the Texas convention scene and as an offshoot of
two live Convention Awareness Day events held in past years, it was my express purpose to create a one-stop resource for convention goers to discover every single show being held in the Lone Star State. Furthermore, I wanted to feature more than just a month-to-month listing, so I began to seek out interviews with the organizers and promoters of the shows featured.

Co-hosting $1 Star Wars Auction, All-Con 2010 (Addison, TX)

For the early part of the year these ends were achieved remarkably well. I received tremendous support from convention organizers when it came to utilizing this resource for free promotion of their shows. And frankly I had more time at my disposal to seek out such interviews and meticulously search for conventions of fan interest that had escaped my initial sweeps in late 2012 and early 2013. In more recent months it has been a challenge to simply keep the listings updated as new shows come to my attention. Various constraints have left this site wanting for attention and new content.

This has been bothersome to me and my plan is to put a greater effort into this site now that my primary home on the internet, The JediCole Universe, is running at full steam with a compliment of recurring features. I will be reaching out to the promoters of conventions coming up between September and December to obtain interviews and return to more detailed features on all upcoming conventions week to week. At present I am also compiling the initial 2014 listings so if you are aware of any conventions coming up in Texas in the new year, please drop me a line here.

Attending 2011's Universal Collectibles Show (Fort Worth, TX)

When I created CAP-TX I had the fan community in mind first and foremost. Support and praise for this site from said community has been nothing short of amazing. While you can find listings for every one of the shows I cover here on the internet somewhere, mine is the only site that brings them all together in one place with links to the individual sites of each convention for your convenience. An unexpected offshoot of this site was as a resource for convention vendors. As a former show dealer of over 20 years I was amazed that this use of the site had not occurred to me from the outset. Furthermore, an artist friend of mine wrote to me this year to express her gratitude for this site as a means to find more venues to showcase and sell her work.

JediCole's Morning After, All-Con 2011 (Addison, TX)

Through various channels, including hundreds of postcards I have distributed at conventions in the state, word is spreading about Convention Awareness Project - Texas. If you have friends who enjoy attending conventions please link this site from your Facebook or other social media sites, ask your local comic shop to request postcards for this site, and let the promoters of your favorite shows know about my efforts.

We are fortunate in Texas to have one of the larger convention scenes in the United States, one which grows every year. Supporting such shows, large and small, will insure that we always have plenty of conventions around the state during the years to come. My personal goal with this site is to generate excitement for, as well as awareness of, the Texas convention scene. Having missed out on many a show in my day it seemed the best possible service to fandom to create and maintain such a website.

Costume Contest judging, All-Con 2009 (Addison, TX)

Remember - You Can't Go If You Don't Know!

Cole "JediCole" Houston

Founder, Convention Awareness Project - Texas

P.S. If you would like to be a part of CAP-TX by writing feature articles on upcoming shows, your personal convention experience, or aspects of convention-going (costuming, volunteering, show production, etc.) please drop me a line.